Saturday, December 13, 2008

An example of when good intentions go horribly awry. In an effort to make sure that toys are safe, a whole host of regulations covering testing requirements and labeling are currently awaiting implementation this coming February by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Problem is that the regulations will be catastrophic for small boutique businesses, and also make European made toys further out of reach due to specific requirements above and beyond their already stringent restrictions compared to the current U.S. regulations.

Lend your mom voice to urge them to reevaluate key provisions of this legislation that takes effect in February to protect small business people and the artisinal toy market by visiting the action page created on Cool Mom Picks. It is easy, and so very needed.

About Me

The character trait I am most proud of is my insatiable curiousity. Parenthood has added dimension and focus to my natural need to know. I am a mother to a precocious young toddler and an infant, who inspire, challenge and enrich my life moment by moment.
I am a freelance writer and ghostwriter, and if you are interested in working with me, I can be contacted at Kirsten.E.Branch@gmail.com.

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Welcome to Relevant Mom

It feels appropriate that I launch Relevant Mom at 6:00 am on Mother's Day, after resettling my husband and son back into their peaceful slumbers, and finding myself wide awake with words and ideas swirling in my head. I had been waiting for that spark that would help me introduce why I felt I needed to share my personal journey and interests with others in this medium; so thanks God, but I really could have used some more precious sleep!

A constant in my life, and frankly probably my best personality trait, is my curiousity, my need to know. Previous to becoming a mother, I was a collector of information, all of it seemingly random. I clipped articles, and I amassed an eclectic library of books that I simply found interesting in the moment. I reveled in the sheer variety of my curious impulse.

Motherhood was a catalyst for me. What I needed to know and why it was important all took on greater focus and clarity. My place in the world, and my concern for the rest of it became very immediate and raw. My intellectual curiousity did not dim upon giving birth, rather it was energized and inspired by an entirely new slate of questions. Oh, I still enjoy the odd bit of celebrity gossip, but I have found a decreasing level of interest in such things overall. I sought a parenting source that was relevant to me, and what I found didn't quite fit the bill, so I decided to create it for myself and others of similar interests. Also, becoming a mother, my time became very very short! Others of my acquaintance, whom I shared bits and peices I thought would be useful to them, wondered where I had found the time to find this information, and told me how much they valued their "dashboard" motherhood news flash, and thus an idea was born.

My vision for Relevant Mom at this time is to provide news, resources and commentary that is relevant and useful to a mom. But to be clear, these are things that interest ME, and perhaps you as well. I am not an impartial news service, and really, does that actually exist anyway? Like me, some days it might be serious and cerebral, and others just plain silly and flippant. I hope you enjoy the gamut and all the spaces in between. Visit when you want and can. I hope the information you find is useful, and that you might find something of which you were not aware. In the coming weeks and months, I will add lots of resources that I have come across in my personal research. Be forewarned, I welcome conversation, but not disrespectful diatribes.

Now, the house is stirring, and the cat wants her share of the mommy attention for the day, so it is on to the business of motherhood.